Smoothies and Social Media
by nicellen
Summary: Nineteen year old Alfred handles investor relations at his mother's company, Athel Sports. Tensions rise when a new Social Media Marketing Director is hired. (This is a modern AU obviously. Also, Bjorn owns a smoothie shop b/c why not?)
1. Chapter 1

Alfred glanced out the window of his studio apartment. Outside, people scurried by on Main Street, dressed for a variety of jobs. A woman in her late twenties waited at the bus stop. Her floral dress flapped in the breeze and she tapped her heeled boot impatiently. A man in navy workshop coveralls had his arm wrapped around a pudgy woman in a green t-shirt and khakis. A woman in a gray pantsuit walked briskly towards his apartment building. Her dark hair was loose at her shoulders and she… Oh. Alfred recognized the woman as his mother, Judith. What was she doing here? Alfred pulled his hair up into a neat bun and trudged to the front door. Just as he reached for the handle, a knock came from the other side. With a sigh, he unlocked and swung it open.

"Hey, Mom."

Judith brushed past him into the apartment. She settled her hands at her hips and looked her son up and down. After a moment, she adjusted his tie.

"Not bad, Al." She brushed off the collar of his suit jacket. "Remember, you'll be meeting our new Social Media Marketing Director at four. You need to look your best. We're lucky she even applied to work for us with her expertise. We can't afford for you to mess this up."

Alfred nodded and smirked.

"I know, Mom. I'll be the most professional that I've ever been. No one has ever been as gracious and professional as I'll be this afternoon."

Judith rolled her eyes and patted his shoulder.

"I'll hold you to that, Al. I'm headed to the office." She started to walk out the door but paused a moment to look over her shoulder. "Also, try and break from your comfort zone by not being late." She closed the door behind her. Alfred turned on his heel and strode to the coffee maker, filling his travel mug. A drip slid down the stainless steel and fell onto his tie. He groaned and used a wet paper towel to scrub at it. Today was going to be a long one.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Alfred ran towards the office, looking down to check the time on his phone. Three fifty-seven. Crap. He couldn't be late for this meeting. He'd been meeting with the company's main investor, Heahmund, and lost track of time. Heahmund was a family friend. They'd started catching up and telling stories, making Alfred forget about meeting the Social Media Marketing Director. Now he ran the risk of being late, and, in reality, he should have been there a few minutes early. Pushing through the rotating door, he raced to the conference room. Before stepping inside, he fixed his jacket and breathed deeply. He opened the door. A young woman, not much older than him, sat at the near end of the table. Her burgundy hair was pulled into a ponytail, which hung in loose curls down her back. She wore a royal blue wrap dress covered by a black blazer and peach-rimmed glasses. As Alfred pulled a chair out, she peered up at him.

"You're late."

Alfred checked his phone. Two minutes after four. Great. He'd screwed up already without even opening his mouth.

"Yes, I am late. I apologize for that. Normally, this kind of thing doesn't happen. I had a last minute meeting with an investor."

The woman pushed her glasses back up her nose and eyed him in a way that reminded Alfred of a lioness stalking her prey. Finally, she extended her hand across the table.

"Sigrun Edelson. Athel Sports' new Social Media Marketing Director."

Alfred shook her hand firmly.

"Glad to have you on our team."

Sigrun abruptly stood and made her way to the door.

"I'll be here at eight Monday morning. I expect you'll have found me an office by that time."


	2. Chapter 2

Alfred leaned around the edge of his cubicle, glaring at Sigrun through the glass door of her new office. The space had been his, but Judith kicked him out of it. She would do whatever it took to keep their newest hire happy. Even if that meant slighting her son. Sigrun looked up from her desk and made eye contact with Alfred. She smirked and waggled her fingers his direction before biting into a muffin. He sputtered and jerked his body back upright. Who did she think she was? Judith came around the corner, resting a hand on her son's shoulder.

"She's going to take Athel Sports and make us a multi-million-dollar franchise, Al." She grinned down at him. "Your father would have been so happy."

Alfred stared down at his keyboard. He wasn't sure if his mother meant her husband, Athelwulf, or his actual father, Athelstan who was murdered when Alfred was a baby. After Athelwulf died of cancer three years ago, she'd taken the life insurance policy and used some of the money to start Athel Sports. Neither Alfred nor his half-brother, Athelred, were sure of which man she had named it after.

"She certainly appears diligent, and she didn't hesitate on taking the job."

Judith squeezed his shoulder lightly.

"You must have made a good first impression." She patted Alfred's back and went into her own office. The young man took one last look at Sigrun and stood. If he was going to survive the rest of the day, he would need coffee. Lots of it. He hurried to the employee lounge and started up the coffee maker. It hummed as he took a company mug from the cabinet. The "A" in Athel Sports was half worn off. He filled his mug and was turning to leave when a man shuffled into the lounge. His shirt said "Bjorn's Bliss" and he held a clear, plastic cup in his right hand. It was filled with something faintly pink.

"I have a Berries n' Cream smoothie here for a Ms. Edelson?" Alfred opened his mouth to speak, but Sigrun rounded the corner and took the smoothie.

"That's mine, thank you." She paid and tipped the delivery boy. He rushed out the door, and Sigrun took a sip from the obnoxious, electric blue straw.

"You had a _smoothie_ delivered here?" Alfred asked, crossing his arms over his chest. Sigrun studied him out of the corner of her eye.

"Yes. I wanted a smoothie, and I'm too busy to leave and get one. Delivery seemed like the best option."

Alfred couldn't help but scoff under his breath.

"Of course. It appears that would be the _best_ option."

Sigrun set the smoothie on the counter and stood in front of Alfred, looking up at him, gaze unwavering. She put her hands on her hips and smiled.

"Look, Alfred, it's evident that you don't like me very much. I've caused some sort of tension for you. But I'm here to do my job, and my job is to make your company look so irresistible that it flourishes in record time. So, I would hope that you'd be cooperative in that effort." A stray hair fell in front of her forehead, and she secured it in place with a bobby pin. "Do you know why I took this job, Alfred? It wasn't for the pay, that's for sure."

"Why did you take it?" Alfred cocked his head to the side.

Sigrun tapped her fingernails lightly on the counter.

"It's part of my strategy to market myself. The more small businesses I help grow, the more my name gets spread. The more my name gets spread, the more popular I become. And the more popular I become-"

"The more companies are willing to pay you to work for them."

"Exactly. This is a mutual give and take, Alfred. A symbiotic relationship, if you will. I'm sure we can find a way to get along for the sake of both of our futures." With that, Sigrun picked up her smoothie, winked, and left the lounge. Alfred scowled and took his coffee back to his desk. He grumbled as he finished up his work for the day.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Rain drizzled down as Alfred left the office. He pulled his jacket up over his head. Of course, he forgot to bring an umbrella today. An irritated voice caught his attention, and he turned towards it. Sigrun stood under the awning of the building, pacing and talking into a cellphone. She scrunched her face up in confusion.

"No, Ulfric, I don't need you to pick me up. It's barely raining. I can drive myself."

Alfred frowned. Ulfric? A boyfriend, probably. He shrugged and started walking in the direction of his apartment building. By the time he got through the front door, his suit jacket was soaked and dripping with rainwater. He shed his clothes, hung them in the bathroom, and hopped into a hot shower. Half an hour later, he got out and pulled on a pair of blue sweatpants. He opened the fridge and grimaced. Leftover pasta sounded gross. Grabbing his phone, he placed an online order for pizza. He plopped onto the couch, scrolling through his Facebook newsfeed. Absent-mindedly, he typed "Sigrun Edelson" into the search bar and clicked on her profile. Her profile picture was a perfectly posed selfie and her cover photo was some quote by Emily Dickinson on a cloud background. He sneered and clicked on her friends list. He wondered what Ulfric looked like. What kind of poor guy got himself stuck with her? He found the profile, but it didn't look like a boyfriend. The picture was of a man in his late forties with an arm wrapped around Sigrun. They were both in casual clothes and standing in front of a forest. The caption read, "There's nothing like hiking with my gorgeous goddaughter." So it wasn't a boyfriend after all. Ulfric was Sigrun's godfather. There was a knock at the door. Alfred jumped up and answered it. Once he had his pizza, he sat back down and looked through Ulfric's profile. It wasn't set to private, so he could see everything. It looked like Sigrun had lived with Ulfric for a while.

"How interesting," Alfred whispered.


End file.
